Determinants of people's online participation in public affairs: the role of locus of control and big-five personality traits

This study was designed to explore the determinants of e-participation in public affairs by developing and validating an e-participation model that elucidates the relationships among personality traits (i.e., big-five personality traits and locus of control), motivations (i.e., intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation), e-participation intention and actual e-participation. The developed model was tested on data from 244 participants using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results indicate: e-participation intention positively influences actual e-participation; intrinsic motivation mediates the relationships between agreeableness and e-participation intention and between extraversion and e-participation intention; extrinsic motivation mediates the relationship between agreeableness and e-participation intention; openness to experience positively and directly impacts e-participation intention; and internal locus of control negatively and directly impacts e-participation intention. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for promoting greater e-participation by citizens in public affairs.